If they move that low to the ground, they're probably under most radar detection. If not maybe we could shell out more money to make stealth versions to increase salvage recovery odds and/or could be good for patrolling by that point.

Well, mainstream or not, I think it looks cool. What's more I like that its based in reality (generally speaking, I think its easier to impliment new and far out tech when you start from a place of a bit of recognition with what's presented). Maybe this could be that slow transportation back we were discussing in the pilot thread. i.e. you beat back the aliens and for whatever reason cannot pilot back or have no pilots, so you take the liesurely salvage blimp ride back with the engineers.

Besides, about civilian transports, if this were to become common place in the future, its not hard to believe you'd see commercial versions spring up. They simply wouldn't have any military grade bells an whistles unless you disguise one (which I'd guess you have to if detectability is an issue what with your guys an items being vulnerable and whatnot).

My guess is, given a choice, X-COM operatives would want the most direct way back as possible, regardless of the speed with which the craft travels in an emergency.

why wouldn't anyone give a truck a glanse? A truck caravan that passes through and you have no idea what they are doing. If a plane passes over your head at home, do you think about it much? No. Besides, if its 500m up in the air, you iwll have troubles seening what the heck it is. A truck cravan looks suspisius, unless you live near a military installation. And that is right in front of you.

Besides, i find this method to be quite slow, because its a ground vehicle. They can get stuck in trafic, and need to use boats.

also, its in 10 years, not 4. Thet will start in a couple of years, so that 8 years of development.

Some people say that dreams are a portal to the subconscious. If that is so, I am a very disturbed person.

This would be one way... although i think that traditional truck - cargo plane is better. This would suit in initial phase of operation, to get containers and dismantle team from road to crash site and then lift the containers already loaded with UFO parts to trucks. The thing has no hard fuselage so if properly modified it would fit in a container itself, and be transportable in truck. A helicopter would do the same trick though, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Even a battleship would not take too many standard cargo containers to store when dismantled, and who is suspicious about few trucks hauling some rusty containers to airfield? A combined military transport operation could take some crates from anywhere to anywhere in just few days. Most of the time would be consumed in taking the UFO into pieces.

however, alien alloys arn't just pieces of metal with bolts in 'em. We don't know how to put things apart we don't know of, and things might be trasted. Rather put the entire ufo in one bit, and let the scientist team dismantle it.

Some people say that dreams are a portal to the subconscious. If that is so, I am a very disturbed person.

Then transport the scientists to site, they are part of the team. There is practically no way to transport intact UFO:s larger than med-scout. There would be very few labs that can house such large objects, so they would have to be pieced anyway before thorough research. Alien Alloys are not indestructible, just hard. Anything that can be constructed can be dismantled with far less effort.

I always assumed they cut the UFO into pieces, because they can always put some pieces back toghether afterwards, like they do for crashed airplanes... Besides, why do you think that we get "units" of Alien alloys in storage ::
And let's face it. A Chopper coming to get the pieces, lands on an airstrip, hauled off by cargo plane, then trucks take it to the final destination (assuming it's not the south pole, in wich case they parachute the whole thing)

IMHO, a few unmarked (or marked unconspicuously) are FAR more discrete than futuristic (and bloody SLOW) blimps, however cool they may be...

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at the crash site
all items are loaded into explosives contaners (just incase
corpses are loaded into a frezzer truck
the ufo is scaned whith a laser wand (accruite to a .0000001th of an inch) and cut into peices than loaded onto a seprete truck (unless it is small than it is just packed onto the truck hole
than the hole convoy drives sails or flys to the nearist xbase

Lighter than airship technology was abandoned for long range travel in the 1930s because of its dangerous nature. Its slow and highly suceptible to inclement weather. It is still used for low cost observation at short ranges though.

Lighter than airship technology was abandoned for long range travel in the 1930s because of its dangerous nature. Its slow and highly suceptible to inclement weather. It is still used for low cost observation at short ranges though.

It has been fixed. The Skycat is diffrent. It doesn't use hydrogen

Some people say that dreams are a portal to the subconscious. If that is so, I am a very disturbed person.

I still think this idea is plausible. Even if you can't control the delivery mechanisms relating to salvage like before (as a 'pedia entry-type thing explaining the how-its-done), this still sounds like one good method to institute standard supply missions for your side ala another vehicle option.

At least, looking at it as one additional way besides trucks, boats, planes, & helicoptors. Plus as you said, its based on current real research. Granted, its applications are limiting, but so's your early game adventures.. Anyway, I'm always interested in how tech progresses through a game, and also how we weigh what to use what where based on the general current state of things at the time, and also examining things from a bugetary perspective for X-COM.

I sort of enivision this blimp tech as a new low cost way of achieving certain aspects of their overall strategic mission, before you introduce more researched Earth tech, alien tech, or hybrids later on. I wouldn't necessarily place this Earth tech though on the high end of Earth tech you can do for this mission, but certainly one stage of it somewhere in that scale.

Maybe just have a locator on the geoscape indicating progress on removal. ie small scout takes minutes to recover, while a b-ship takes a couple of weeks? That would be more realistic - you can even send engineers to the site to speed it up??

Maybe just have a locator on the geoscape indicating progress on removal. ie small scout takes minutes to recover, while a b-ship takes a couple of weeks? That would be more realistic - you can even send engineers to the site to speed it up??

great idea! And you don't even need to know HOW it's t ransported!

Some people say that dreams are a portal to the subconscious. If that is so, I am a very disturbed person.

It could be one of your behind the scenes sort of thing, yet you still have to delegate the transport vehicle doing the salvaging along with the engineering group (to speed it up). Nice thought there dipstick.